Daniel Dubois has warned Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury that their long-awaited showdown will not determine the best heavyweight in Britain. The Londoner, who is set to challenge Fabio Wardley for the world title next weekend, believes his fight will eclipse the long-anticipated clash between the two former champions.
Dubois dismisses Joshua-Fury bout
Joshua and Fury have been on a collision course for a decade without ever meeting in the ring. However, the bitter rivals have finally signed to fight later this year. Joshua must first beat Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia in July, while Fury is now demanding a warm-up bout before facing Joshua. Dubois, who bludgeoned Joshua around the Wembley canvas two years ago before losing his world title to Oleksandr Usyk last summer, insists that even if they do finally fight, they will be fighting over scraps.
Dubois returns to the ring next weekend to challenge current champion Fabio Wardley in Manchester. He is confident their fight will relegate Fury and Joshua to also-rans. "This is definitely the best fight and you're going to see that on the night," Dubois said. "This is to determine who the governor is in British boxing - and in world boxing. This is the top level and it can get me the rematch with Usyk."
Fury's U-turn on Joshua fight
Fury returned to action last month when he outpointed Arslanbek Makhmudov in his first fight since losing his rematch with Usyk. He had already signed his contract to fight Joshua and insisted he would retire if his next fight wasn't against the Olympic champion. Joshua put pen to paper this week to seemingly end 10 years of waiting. But Fury has now performed a U-turn and is ready to risk the £200 million clash by insisting on another warm-up bout.
His promoter Frank Warren said: "I think he will probably want to be doing something in between. AJ has got his fight and Tyson, I'm quite sure, will have a fight in between, that's what he's asking for and we'll see where we go from there. Tyson and AJ have paid their dues, and Tyson is by no means finished. You only have to see his last fight; he did what he had to do and got a lot of rust out of his system. I expect him to do to AJ what Daniel did to him. But Daniel and Fabio are two guys who are fighting each other at their best and it's very rarely that happens."
Warren added: "Tyson has been out of the rankings for a while because of his inactivity so this fight is between the No.1 and No.2 guys at the moment. Daniel is going to need to be at his best to beat Fabio, and Fabio's going to have to be at his best to beat Daniel. That's why this fight is so intriguing and so exciting."
The Dubois-Wardley clash promises to be a defining moment in the heavyweight division, with the winner potentially earning a shot at Usyk. Meanwhile, Joshua and Fury's path to a unification bout remains uncertain, with both fighters needing to overcome their respective obstacles.
